Applied AI Strategist

About the Company

Valon is building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance, starting with mortgage servicing.

We're a Series C company backed by a16z, transforming industries that others have written off as too complex to innovate.

Rather than build on top of broken legacy systems, we took a different approach: we built and operate our own mortgage servicing business managing $110+ billion in loans. This wasn't the end goal, it was how we deeply understood the complexity needed to build software that actually works in regulated industries.

The results speak for themselves. We've transformed mortgage servicing from a 0% margin business into 60%+ margins while dramatically improving customer experience. Major enterprise contracts are now deploying across the industry.

ValonOS is our unified platform that makes every process structured and programmable and it is perfectly positioned for the AI era. When everything flows through one system with rich data, AI agents don't just automate tasks, they continuously improve entire operations. Mortgage servicing is just the beginning of our vision to transform regulated industries and beyond.

About the Opportunity

Valon builds ValonOS, the AI-native operating system for mortgage servicing. We service millions of homeowners and we're expanding how we bring AI to the broader financial services industry.

Here's what's happening: our clients and partners aren't just asking us to service their loans — they're asking us to help them fundamentally rethink how their operations work using AI. Leaders in industries outside of mortgage servicing are doing the same. Not "add a chatbot." Transform the business.

We're building a team to do exactly that. You'll be embedded onsite with clients and with new markets we are entering, converting vague "we need AI" mandates into sequenced execution plans, and then building and shipping the AI solutions yourself. Every engagement deepens our understanding of how these industries actually work — context that compounds into Valon's platform over time.

This is a founding team. You'll be one of the first 5 people defining how this function operates, what the playbook looks like, and how it scales. The first engagements are already signed.

This is not a consulting role. You're not writing decks. You're not advising. You're building AI agent workflows, shipping working solutions, and owning business outcomes. If something breaks at 9pm on a Tuesday, it's yours.

This is not a remote role. You'll be embedded at client sites for extended periods — weeks to months at a time. Think Palantir forward-deployed model. If you want to work from home, this isn't for you.

Responsibilities

• Run the engagement, end to end. You own the client relationship, the execution plan, and the outcomes. No project manager above you. No account executive handling the relationship. You're it.

• Turn ambiguity into action. Clients will say "we need AI for collections" or "help us figure out how to use AI." You'll decompose that into sequenced initiatives with owners, dependencies, milestones, and success metrics — then execute against them.

• Build AI solutions yourself. You'll independently design and build agent workflows, automations, and AI-powered tools. You're not spec'ing work for an engineering team — you're prototyping, testing, and shipping. You need to be fluent in LLM orchestration, comfortable with APIs, and capable of going from problem identification to working demo without support.

• Manage organizational change. AI transformation scares people. You'll navigate resistance, address "is AI taking my job" fears directly and credibly, and build trust with operators and executives alike.

• Capture context that compounds. Every engagement teaches us something about how an industry works. You'll document learnings in structured ways that inform Valon's product strategy and make the next engagement faster.

• Shape a new function. This team doesn't exist yet. You'll help define the operating model, the engagement playbook, hiring criteria for future teammates, and what "great" looks like.

What We're Looking For

• You've led complex, ambiguous initiatives end to end. Not "contributed to" — led. You were the person accountable for the outcome, and you drove it from unclear problem to shipped result. This could have been at a startup, a consulting firm, a forward-deployed tech company, or something you built yourself.

• You build with AI, not just talk about it. You've independently built agent workflows, automations, or AI-powered tools. You're fluent in current LLM capabilities and limitations. You can evaluate whether a problem is best solved with an agent, a workflow, a fine-tuned model, or a simple prompt chain — and then build it. We'll ask you to demonstrate this in the interview.

• You're a structured thinker who operates in chaos. You can take a vague, high-stakes problem and decompose it into a sequenced plan with clear dependencies. But you also thrive when the plan changes — because it will, constantly.

• You're credible in a room of executives and operators. You'll be embedded at client sites without a Valon team around you. You need to command trust quickly, speak with authority, and manage senior stakeholders who may be skeptical, scared, or both.

• You want to build something new, not optimize something existing. This role is for people who get energy from ambiguity, not anxiety. If you need a well-defined role with clear guardrails, you'll be miserable here.

Backgrounds That Tend to Fit

We care about evidence of the traits above, not pedigree. That said, people with these backgrounds often have the right muscle memory:

• Forward-deployed engineers or deployment strategists (Palantir, Anduril, Scale AI)

• MBB consultants who chose the digital/AI practice AND build with AI outside of work

• Technical founders or early operators at B2B startups (fintech, healthcare, logistics)

• PMs at AI-native companies who've shipped customer-facing AI products (not consumer tech)

• Independent AI consultants or builders who want a platform and team behind them

• Technical program managers or Chiefs of Staff at high-growth startups who also build

What Won't Work Here

• Pure strategists who don't build

• "AI-curious" but no evidence of hands-on building

• Needs clear structure and defined scope to be productive

• Uncomfortable being the only Valon person in the room

Logistics

• Location: Embedded onsite at client sites (currently East Coast / Pacific Northwest). Home base flexibility, but expect significant travel.

• Reports to: CEO/COO

• Start date: As soon as possible. Engagements are already signed.

Benefits

• Compensation: competitive salary of $127,000-$240,000 plus a meaningful stake in the company via equity, and 401k plan. NB: The base salary will be based on a combination of past experience and interview performance.

• Health & well-being: we’ll invest in your physical and mental well-being with comprehensive medical, dental, & vision benefits

• Commuter benefits: We offer pre-tax deductions for public transportation, rideshare services, and parking expenses to make your commute more affordable and convenient

• Grow together: Company wide orientation for you to successfully onboard and other learning & development opportunities including regular review cycles that feature 360 degree feedback

• Play together: quarterly budgets for team and company outings. Use it for team swag, cooking classes, or team dinners!

• Generous time off: flexible paid time off, sick days, and 11 company holidays

• Baby bonding time!: 12 weeks off for both birthing and non-birthing parents - fully paid so you can focus your energy on your newest addition

Throughout the interview process, please remember that emails will only be from valon.com email addresses. We will never ask for any personally identifiable information during the interview process itself. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any requests to verify the authenticity of an outreach.

Valon is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. Valon makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.